Let's Talk About Our Feelings: Expressing Character Emotions, Part I

Think about the last time you experienced a strong emotion-- it can be anything from elation to crushing boredom, as long as it was consumingly strong. Then think about what you said to anyone around you. Did you actually say 'I am mad?*'. Or did you talk about the situation in a more concrete way? Or address your 'secondary' emotions?

Probably, you mostly talked about specifics, with the occasional 'I'm so excited/frustrated/crushed/confused' thrown in for good measure. And that's how your characters should talk--unless they have a motivation to do so, it seems weird if your characters blurt out their innermost feelings in a direct way. (Even Walter Scott's annoyingly melodramatic puppets characters refrain from monologuing about their overwrought emotional states).

Instead, focus on the specifics your characters hone in on. For example, if your character is excited about visiting her family after a long journey, she might anticipate hugging her little brother, or watching a nostalgic movie with her mom, or gossiping with a favourite cousin. Or if a character is dreading a another day at his job, he might obsess over a series of inconveniences-- the rain, the smelly bus, his loud coworker-- that convey his overall mood. This holds true in dialogue as well. Someone is likely to innumerate their love interest's good qualities whilst gushing about them to a friend, rather than say simply that they're head over heels.

Also, don't underestimate the power of actions without dialogue or detailed internal narrative. For example character can energetically avoid someone with a minimum of internal narration about their feelings; many times context and word choice can convey motive without any additional internal monologue from the character. Compare:

Joe scuttled to his cubicle with his head down, hoping to avoid his boss' critical glare. 

to this passage:

Joe scuttled to his cubicle with his head down, hoping to avoid being trapped into yet another inane conversation with his boss. 

Without anything beyond a bit of context, we can establish anxiety in the first passage, and exasperation and boredom in the second. All without a single monologue about Joe's feelings!

*Once, when I was very young, I had been sent to 'time out' for some minor transgression and retaliated by writing my parents a note that said 'I am mad. You are bad' with a large angry face. I was livid when my parents were not hurt or enraged, but instead posted the note on the fridge.